Factual Theory

Issues

Accuracy - Accuracy is the quality or state of being correct or precise and also the ability to perform a task with precision. Channel 4 take the issue of viewer trust very seriously. Viewers are entitled to expect that programmes are accurate and true and the audience must not be misled. This obligation applies to all types of programming, including entertainment programmes with factual elements. 

Balance - Balance is when you have a balanced opinion on a certain subject. You must keep your documentary balanced on both sides of the argument. An example for balance would be the documentary 'Supersize Me' because all the presenter talks about is the bad effects of eating fast food making it very unbalanced.

Impartiality - Impartiality is an inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally. 

Objectivity - Judgement based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices. 

Subjectivity - Judgement based on individual personal impressions and feelings and opinions rather than external facts. An example for this would be 'Aileen Life and Death of a Serial Killer'. This is because of the way the presenter bonds with the woman Aileen and asks her the question, and how she feels and also what her opinions are.

Opinion - Opinion is when a view or judgement is formed about something, but not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. 

Bias - Bias is when people show prejudice for or against someone or something unfairly. This relates to the documentary 'Supersize Me'. This is because when the presenter is talking only about the negative side of the fast food and doesn't talk about the positives which makes it biased.


News

Studio News Readers - Studio newsreaders are people hired by TV. Comapnies and have to sit behind a desk and read out factual news to the world. The “studio” part means that they only report news from the studio which is usually owned by the news company. The large majority of studio news readers keep serious faces and dress very formally and keep a constant eye contact with the camera. This makes the news channel look more serious but informative. A great example of this would be BBC news because in that news show they all dress in suits and dress’s when presenting the news and they also keep straight faces and constant eye contact. It is important to use eye contact when reading the news because if you do the audience will feel like you are informing them as if you would in a face to face conversation if you don’t then the audience will think that you being rude and uninterested in the news you are reading out.

Field Reporters - Field reporters are pretty much like studio newsreaders except they report news from outside of the studio. They usually report live from areas outside the studio to the studio when the news show is running. They are also known as off-scene reporters. The scenes they go live at are usually linked to what has been discussed on the news show by the studio news reader earlier. A good example of this would BBC news, every night at 10pm when the show starts they always have at least one news reporter reporting live from a scene somewhere in the world. It is important when presenting the news to make sure that your surroundings are not too loud otherwise if the audience cant here you they will most likely switch channel. The best way to overcome this would be to do a sound check before going live.

Interviewing - Interviews are an important role in media industrys. They are mainly used to obtain information on certain subjects from people who are experts on the subjects or they can be used for finding out peoples opinions on topics. Interviews give most T.V viewers the opportunity to find out information they would never have known until they saw this interview. A good example is “BBC Match of the day” On this T.V programme they interview a lot of football players, managers, coaches, ect to get information out of them such as “who played best in the match”, “was this the score you were expecting?” or “where do you think you could have improved on?”

Experts and Witnesses - On a lot of news channels you also get experts who sometimes come on the show or do interviews with the news channels to give their expertise on certain topics such as Global warming, Politics, natural disasters and many more. This is important to the viewers because it fills them with knowledge they may not have known before which could turn out to be useful for them in the future. A brilliant example of “Witnesses” would be BBC news. News reporters usually do interviews with witnesses on topics like murders, assaults or disasters.

Report Structure - The inverted pyramid is the model for newswriting. It simply means that the heaviest or most important information should be at the top of your story, and the least important information should go at the bottom. And as you move from top to bottom, the information presented should gradually become less important. This technique is used by BBC news. The same applies for the news show structure itself going from most important or dramatic storys first until it reaches the last news story which would be the least interesting or important


Documentary

Realism - Realism documentaries are the type of documentaries where it documents actual events and people. An example of one of these would be the show Made in Chelsea. Made in Chelsea is a reality series which chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London area of Belgravia, Kings Road and Knightsbridge and even their travels around the world such as New York City, Dubai, Verbier, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Venice and Barbados.

Dramatisation - A dramatisation documentry, also known as a docudrama is a genre of television programming which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. An example of one of these would be the TV show Code of a Killer which tells a true story on discovering DNA fingerprinting in 1984.

Narrativisation - Narrativisation is normally always seen or heard in a documentary. Narrative is aneffective way of addressing to the audience and telling the story or in this case thedocumentary. Narrativisation can also drag on a bit so you have to be careful onhow much your using depending on what type to documentary is.